What You Wanted to Say
by lululawlawlu
Summary: Law and Luffy find that sometimes it really is more meaningful to express feelings through actions rather than just relying on words. LawLu
1. Chapter 1

What You Wanted to Say

It was another beautiful day on the sea. The Thousand Sunny creaked pleasantly as she shifted on the gentle waves. The same breeze that urged the sail on danced in Law's hair and tugged playfully at the pages of his book. It was a perfect day to relax outside. There was only one problem. A certain someone was intent on taking Law's attention away from his reading.

The more Law tried to focus his attention on his book, the more desperate for attention Luffy seemed to become. The young captain was on a crusade against peace and quiet.

"Hey, Torao." Luffy peered over the book at him. "Torao?" he inquired as he grabbed Law's wrists, shaking the book up and down. Law silently ripped himself out of Luffy's grasp and elevated the book so that it was squarely in front of his face. "Toraooo~" Luffy whined, sinking to the deck. He flopped his head onto Law's lap and looked up at him.

Law continued reading. He flipped the page. Luffy didn't make a sound, but Law could feel his eyes on him. The older captain lowered his book and let out a weary sigh.

"It's your trapezoid," the younger stated, jabbing Law in the shoulder.

"What?"

"Your trapezoid muscle. It was in your book."

An amused smile crossed Law's lips. "You mean trapezius, and it's right here," he said lightly brushing the area between Luffy's shoulder and neck making him squirm ticklishly.

"Pectoralis major, rectus abdominis," Law continued to name the muscles as he trailed his hand down and across Luffy's exposed chest. He paused as he gently brushed his fingertips over the scar that marked the younger captain. Luffy watched Law's tattooed fingers quizzically. "Serratus anterior," Law continued as he attacked the sensitive spot on the side of Luffy's ribs, eliciting ticklish giggles from the younger captain.

Luffy squirmed under the nimble fingers."Tor-ah! Toraooo~" Luffy shrieked through fits of laughter, "Sto-ha, stop it~". He thrashed about in an attempt to escape Law's barrage.

"What? I thought you wanted me to pay attention to you." The older captain tried to sound disappointed.

"Not like that!" Luffy cried as he pulled away, still giggling from the sensation.

Law had been feeling more playful lately. Not just a side effect of spending too much time with the straw hat crew, he supposed, but an eventuality for anyone this close to Monkey D. Luffy.

"By the way, Mugiwara-ya, what was it you wanted to say to me before?" Law tried to inquire after the Luffy, but it was too late for an answer.

"Lunchtime," Sanji had let the single word ring out over the deck of the Sunny, ripping Luffy's attention away from Law.

"Lunchtime!" the excited young captain echoed as he jumped up. He rushed to be the first one at the table, shouting out as he dashed toward the galley. "Hey, Sanji, did you cook enough meat?" Law lingered on the deck. He couldn't fight the feeling that maybe this time Luffy hadn't started bothering him out of boredom, but had originally wanted to tell him something important.


	2. Chapter 2

What You Wanted to Say

Chapter 2

 **Inspiration:**

 **the song "ｽﾀｰﾌｨｯｼｭ" (Starfish) by Ellegarden**

 **... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … ...**

The deck of the Thousand Sunny was oddly calm in the evening. Everyone had busied themselves with their own activities inside and Law was left alone with his thoughts.

He let out a deep sigh as he leaned back against the railing of the Sunny. He absentmindedly watched the water slosh against the sides of the ship as he thought back over the numerous times he'd tried to get Luffy to remember what he'd had on his mind that morning. For some reason it was really bothering Law that he hadn't listened to Luffy when he'd had the chance and of course Luffy couldn't remember what he'd been thinking about at that time.

Stars were starting to come alight in the evening sky now and Law was still persuading himself to let go of the topic on his mind. If it was something truly important, then the younger captain would have just said what he was thinking. He wasn't the kind of person to show restraint after all. Law let his eyes slide closed. He was exhausted by his thoughts.

The loud slam of a door signaled the arrival of another presence on deck. Law blinked his weary eyes open, trying to focus them. As if summoned by the Law's thoughts, Luffy had appeared.

"Torao! I'm here for my revenge! " Luffy shouted at the sleepy surgeon while trying to seem serious and wiggling his fingers as if tickling the air. He dove at Law, unceremoniously jabbing the man's torso with his rubber fingers.

"Ack! What the hell, Mugiwara-ya! You know I'm not ticklish," Law protested, trying to shield his body. Luffy ignored the older captain's resistance as he squirmed on the deck. Luffy never knew when enough was enough, and Law had definitely had enough.

"ROOM."

In an instant, Law had shambled himself out from under the rubber man. Thanks to Law's ability, Luffy was left to tickle-attack one of the Thousand Sunny's deck chairs. It took Luffy a second to realize the switch and turn his attention back to where Law actually was.

The still menacing glint in Luffy's eyes was met with a firm scowl from the Surgeon of Death.

"You finished?" Law questioned him apprehensively. He knew that Luffy wasn't one to listen to others easily. Luckily, Luffy had come to realize that when Law got too grumpy he became overly withdrawn and at all fun to play with.

A pout played on Luffy's lips.

Where had he learned to make such an irresistibly cute expression? It tugged at Law's heartstrings and he felt himself let out a heavy sigh. Luffy knew it as the sound of resignation.

"You can come sit beside me if you're ready to calm down," he conceded.

Completely ignoring the latter part of Law's sentence, Luffy launched himself into the other's lap. He quickly wrapped his rubber arms around the surgeon's torso- twice in fact, for good measure.

"Oh, Torao feels so good!" Luffy laughed blissfully as he pressed his body to Law's, resting his head conveniently on the surgeon's shoulder, "So warm!"

Any sense of defensiveness that Law had melted away. The warmth of Luffy's own body, the sea-sprayed scent of Luffy's hair, Luffy's soft breath on his neck- they completely overwhelmed Law's senses and disarmed him.

A heat building inside Law rose to his face. A soft pink graced his cheeks as he shifted his weight uncomfortably under the younger. These kinds of close, physical encounters were becoming more and more common between them, but Law couldn't be sure if Luffy was still being naturally playful or if the younger captain had developed deeper feelings.

"Why do you always gotta be touching me?" Law meant it as an honest question, but it came out as more of a complaint.

Luffy pulled back to look Law in the eyes. "I don't really get it," he mused, "but when I see Torao, my body feels kinda sick." Law furrowed his brows at the comment.

Luffy grasped his own chest with one of his hands. "When I see Torao I suddenly feel really excited like my insides will explode and my heart gets really fast and I my stomach feels like it wants to fly away," Luffy explained, attempting to put his awkward feelings into even more awkward words.

Law failed to suppress a laugh. "Yeah, me too," he stated, brushing Luffy's messy hair out of his eyes and bringing both hands around to cup the younger's face. Law lingered cautiously for a moment, studying the deep pools of Luffy's dark eyes before gathering the courage to lean in and plant a kiss on his lips.

 **... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … … ... … … … ...**


	3. Chapter 3

Law lie awake in the darkness of the men's quarters, staring up into the vacant space above him. He attempted to lull himself to sleep by mentally reviewing the anatomy of the human heart, but his arm had long since fallen asleep under the weight of Luffy's head on his shoulder and it was sending stinging sensations up through his nerves.

As it was, sleep rarely came easily to Law but Luffy had insisted that he come to bed with him- part of Luffy's efforts to keep him close enough for sporadic bouts of affection since making his feelings known out under the stars. Besides being surrounded by the snoring men of Luffy's crew, Law didn't mind being stuck there. He did find an anxious kind of excitement stirring inside of him whenever they were close together like this, and in fact, he'd been relieved to discover that he inspired the same kind of feelings in Luffy.

Law gazed down at the petite captain dozing in the crook of his arm as he lie back in the hammock that Luffy fondly referred to as his bed. He could make out the smooth outline of Luffy's face in the dark room. It amused him that even in sleep, Luffy's default expression seemed to be an easygoing smile. He watched the gentle rise and fall of Luffy's scarred chest- a reminder that for all the fun and adventure he loved, Luffy often found himself in dangerous, life-threatening situations. It caused Law's heart to ache when the thought crossed his mind that some day he might lose him, and he moved to hug the smaller body closer despite the pins and needles prickling through his arm.

Luffy stirred in his embrace, stretching an arm out over Law's chest and bringing his knee up, unconsciously brushing against the crotch of Law's pants.

Law squirmed uncomfortably under him, trying to push Luffy's leg away without rocking the hammock too much. All he managed to do was wake Luffy who sleepily pushed himself up, throwing off their equilibrium, and sending both of them tumbling out of the hammock to the floor.

Both of them sat still in the darkness, cautiously testing their ears against tired complaining from the other men that didn't come. Instead, they all seemed undisturbed, a steady snoring continuing to resonate throughout the room.

"Torao?" Luffy's voice rang out like an air horn, piercing the night air.

Law sprang to his feet and took long strides to the door, eager to remove himself from the situation as quickly as possible.

Luffy followed at his heels, taking hold of his arm just outside the room.

"Tora-"

Law slapped a hand over Luffy's mouth. He pulled his arm from Luffy's grasp and reached over the younger captain's shoulder to close the door behind them.

"Have some consideration. You don't want to wake everyone," Law cautioned, his voice hushed, "now what is it you wanted to say?"

"I remembered!" Luffy practically shouted in his excitement. "I remembered what I wanted to say this morning!" He threw himself into Law, wrapping his arms around the older captain's torso, burying his face in his chest.

"Well, what is it? What did you want to say?" Law prompted. A fond smile grew on his lips as he brought his hand down to impulsively stroke Luffy's hair.

Luffy looked up at Law, his eyes shimmering like the ocean under the moonlight as he spoke. "Torao is my favourite person _ever_ , " he revealed.

"Well," Law mused, "I guess you could say that you're also one of the people I like most. For probably the first time in my life, I feel truly optimistic about the future and you've given me that hope."

Law watched as the realization of his words dawned on Luffy's face. "I'm Torao's favourite person, too?!"

"In a manner of speaking."

"And Torao loves me and wants to marry me in the future!?"

"Wait, what? It's too early to-"

Luffy pulled Law down to hold him close, giving him quick, excited kisses. He laughed lightly against Law's lips when Law made to return the affection, kissing him back as he embraced him.

Law's heart fluttered at the contact, the familiar sensation of infatuated adoration welling up inside of him. While he wasn't so certain about committing to anything right away, they would just have to wait and see what awaited them in the future.


End file.
